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Vikings, Eagles rule roost of salary-cap manipulation
Reuben Frank
NFL by the Numbers
SI.com
Here are the highlights...
We saw this with a couple signings to the 53-man roster late in the year. The Packers don't have the biggest adjusted cap number this year, but they have the bigest cap number among the top 4 teams from last season, 2nd biggest among last year's top 8 (behind only Jacksonville), and 3rd among last year's playoff teams (behind only Tampa Bay and Jacksonville).
One of the winningest teams in the league with one of the greatest salary cap numbers....not a bad combination for the future.
Vikings, Eagles rule roost of salary-cap manipulation
Reuben Frank
NFL by the Numbers
SI.com
Here are the highlights...
It's a regulation buried deep in the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement, a regulation so obscure it doesn't even have a name.
Other than Article XXIV, Section 7, section ii, paragraph c, part (iii).
Here's what it says:
At the end of a season, if performance bonuses previously included in a Team's Team Salary but not actually earned exceed performance bonuses actually earned but not previously included in Team Salary, an amount shall be added to the Team's Salary Cap for the next League Year equaling the amount, if any, by which such overage exceeds the Team's Room under the Salary Cap at the end of a season.
...
Because of a variety of complicated tricks that savvy NFL team officials have figured out, teams can manipulate their salary cap to the point where their cap figure winds up millions of dollars higher than the teams they're competing with.
...
The way the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement works, the more flexibility a team has, the easier it is to gain future flexibility. So teams that find themselves in cap trouble are often stuck there for years. And teams that stay out of cap trouble can tweak contracts in certain ways that generate huge cap advantages in later years.
...
2008 unadjusted salary cap is $116,729,000
2008 Adjusted Salary Cap Figures
Team..................................Adjusted Cap
Arizona Cardinals..................$116,729,000
Atlanta Falcons.....................$116,378,426
Baltimore Ravens..................$119,261,265
Buffalo Bills..........................$129,442,009
Carolina Panthers.................$125,655,802
Chicago Bears......................$117,455,231
Cincinnati Bengals................$116,729,000
Cleveland Browns..................$129,362,503
Dallas Cowboys.....................$117,727,443
Denver Broncos....................$117,389,000
Detroit Lions........................$111,380,935
Green Bay Packers................$126,159,581
Houston Texans...................$114,521,131
Indianapolis Colts.................$123,230,115
Jacksonville Jaguars..............$128,649,898
Kansas City Chiefs................$128,387,373
Miami Dolphins.....................$120,673,997
Minnesota Vikings.................$135,161,577
New England Patriots..............$119,325,078
New Orleans Saints................$124,746,003
New York Giants....................$113,632,488
New York Jets.......................$121,781,789
Oakland Raiders...................$121,069,722
Philadelphia Eagles...............$130,816,449
Pittsburgh Steelers................$114,818,226
San Diego Chargers...............$116,131,353
San Francisco 49ers...............$119,039,787
Seattle Seahawks..................$124,115,108
St. Louis Rams......................$117,361,320
Tampa Bay Buccaneers...........$130,035,634
Tennessee Titans..................$122,220,147
Washington Redskins.............$118,550,260
Other than Article XXIV, Section 7, section ii, paragraph c, part (iii).
Here's what it says:
At the end of a season, if performance bonuses previously included in a Team's Team Salary but not actually earned exceed performance bonuses actually earned but not previously included in Team Salary, an amount shall be added to the Team's Salary Cap for the next League Year equaling the amount, if any, by which such overage exceeds the Team's Room under the Salary Cap at the end of a season.
...
Because of a variety of complicated tricks that savvy NFL team officials have figured out, teams can manipulate their salary cap to the point where their cap figure winds up millions of dollars higher than the teams they're competing with.
...
The way the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement works, the more flexibility a team has, the easier it is to gain future flexibility. So teams that find themselves in cap trouble are often stuck there for years. And teams that stay out of cap trouble can tweak contracts in certain ways that generate huge cap advantages in later years.
...
2008 unadjusted salary cap is $116,729,000
2008 Adjusted Salary Cap Figures
Team..................................Adjusted Cap
Arizona Cardinals..................$116,729,000
Atlanta Falcons.....................$116,378,426
Baltimore Ravens..................$119,261,265
Buffalo Bills..........................$129,442,009
Carolina Panthers.................$125,655,802
Chicago Bears......................$117,455,231
Cincinnati Bengals................$116,729,000
Cleveland Browns..................$129,362,503
Dallas Cowboys.....................$117,727,443
Denver Broncos....................$117,389,000
Detroit Lions........................$111,380,935
Green Bay Packers................$126,159,581
Houston Texans...................$114,521,131
Indianapolis Colts.................$123,230,115
Jacksonville Jaguars..............$128,649,898
Kansas City Chiefs................$128,387,373
Miami Dolphins.....................$120,673,997
Minnesota Vikings.................$135,161,577
New England Patriots..............$119,325,078
New Orleans Saints................$124,746,003
New York Giants....................$113,632,488
New York Jets.......................$121,781,789
Oakland Raiders...................$121,069,722
Philadelphia Eagles...............$130,816,449
Pittsburgh Steelers................$114,818,226
San Diego Chargers...............$116,131,353
San Francisco 49ers...............$119,039,787
Seattle Seahawks..................$124,115,108
St. Louis Rams......................$117,361,320
Tampa Bay Buccaneers...........$130,035,634
Tennessee Titans..................$122,220,147
Washington Redskins.............$118,550,260
One of the winningest teams in the league with one of the greatest salary cap numbers....not a bad combination for the future.